Microsoft launches beta for community driven Xbox Enforcement United programby John Callaham

Microsoft clearly wants to give its many Xbox Live members more of a say in how the online service is managed and policed, especially in terms of player conduct. Today, the company announced it has launched a beta for its newly revealed, and community driven, Xbox Enforcement United program.

In a post on the Xbox Wire website, Glenn Kaleta, the director of Microsoft's Xbox Live Policy and Enforcement, offered up a summary of what the community members who are chosen for the Xbox Enforcement United program will do in cooperation with Microsoft's own Xbox Live enforcement team:

Members who join the Enforcement United beta will participate by providing their opinions on whether particular content, initially Gamertags, violate the Xbox Live Code of Conduct. These decisions from participants feed into an algorithm our team developed. That algorithm takes several factors into account like how many participants believe there had been a violation and how reliably those individual members’ historical decisions aligned with the general consensus. The system can then determine whether or not to apply an enforcement action like requiring a Gamertag change, or if the complaint should be escalated for one of our enforcers to review more closely.

While the program will center just on GamerTag enforcement, Kaleta seems to hint that it could expand to other areas of Xbox Live later. The beta program is currently available for qualified Xbox Live Ambassadors to sign up for, and it will be expanded to more Xbox Live members in the coming months.

Microsoft has already announced that the upcoming Xbox One console will include a Player Reputation score for Xbox Live members that will be based on player input, with the idea to label gamers who display poor sportsmanship while online with a red "Avoid Me" score.

In related news, Microsoft also announced the beta for another new program, Xbox Community Level that's designed to offer rewards to particularly helpful Xbox Live Ambassadors and Xbox Enforcement United members. Users will gain XP through their actions and "level up" so they can receive "loot" like Xbox Live Arcade games, avatar items and more.

In related news, Microsoft also announced the beta for another new program, Xbox Community Level that's designed to offer rewards to particularly helpful Xbox Live Ambassadors and Xbox Enforcement United members. Users will gain XP through their actions and "level up" so they can receive "loot" like Xbox Live Arcade games, avatar items and more.